Chapter Ninety-Four: Hitting the Town

It seemed to Karina that the overcast weather matched up well with the sudden shift in mood around the manor. She didn’t know what had happened, but she had a feeling it had something to do with the new arrivals that had shown up last night. Something significant had shifted in the dynamic between the members of Zaren’s harem, and Karina would be lying if she said she didn’t want to know what that something was. Badly.

Ugh. She had spent far too much time over the last few days thinking about Zaren and his harem. She’d known him for a whopping three days, she should not be this interested in his love life. But she’d be lying if she didn’t have a lot of questions. It was natural though, right? They were hardly dating, but she’d fooled around with Jayme as often as they could get away with over the last few years, and Jayme was a human. It was only natural she’d be curious about a relationship dynamic where the humans and non-humans were on equal footing. That’s all it was. That was as far as her interest went.

That small, traitorous part of her that was still replaying the way he’d held her to his side so protectively that first day over and over again might beg to differ, but clearly that part of her was completely delusional and should be completely ignored.

The lantern, too. So what if he’d immediately gone out of his way to give her something that would have sold for a small fortune just because she hadn’t been sleeping well? It meant absolutely nothing that just glancing at the stupid, wonderful little contraption never failed to bring a smile to her face. She just wasn’t used to getting gifts from anyone other than her father or Jayme, that’s all. Nothing more and nothing less.

The dreams were a little harder to explain away.

For the second night in a row, he’d been in them. They’d started out as the same nightmare as always. The dark. Pitch black nothingness in a damp, cold cave. She couldn’t see anything. Every sound was a threat in the darkness. Every rustle a rat. Every skitter a spider. Every breeze someone moving behind her, ready to do her harm. But unlike every other time she’d had them since she was a little girl, he was there.

It wasn’t a sex dream. Honestly, she might have preferred that. He was clearly attractive, and with her being so far from her safe little corner of the library she hadn’t felt comfortable doing anything with Jayme past some painfully platonic cuddling. A sex dream she could attribute to being pent up and stressed out.

But no. No sex. Just her, laying in the dark. The quiet grating on her nerves as her eyes tried and failed to make out even a single shape in the darkness. And the sound of breathing coming from just in front of her. The feeling of fingers wrapping around her own, making her jump. Feeling the bones crush together from how hard she clutched that hand and the sound of his chuckle. That was it. Fucking hand holding. And gods damn her if it didn’t make her feel calm and safe, like even the darkness couldn’t get to her when he was around.

How she knew it was him, she didn’t know, but it was. She knew with absolute certainty that it was Zaren’s breathing she could hear even without being able to see any part of him. It was his hand that comforted her. His warmth that made her feel like, at least in that moment, she wasn’t completely alone. And it was his absence that left an ache in her chest when she woke. One she had no clue how to even begin to make sense of.

“You’ve got that look on your face,” Jayme whispered, making Karina jump. When she looked at her friend, Jayme was wearing a wide grin. “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?”

Karina swatted her friend on the arm, glancing at Tiana walking just behind them. She didn’t seem to have noticed anything, but Karina was fairly certain Tiana had pointedly ignored more than a few of Jayme’s comments. Thankfully it was busy enough in the lower quarter’s market place that the low hum of conversation might have swallowed her words up.

“Will you shut up?” Karina hissed. “Gods, I wish I’d never told you about the stupid dream.” Jayme had been insufferable since, teasing Karina for her apparent crush. As if. She most certainly was not crushing on Zaren Nocht. He was her Patron for gods’ sakes!

“But you diiiiid,” Jayme said in a singsong voice. “Good thing, too. Otherwise your chances of ever getting a taste of tall, dark, and really-fucking-good-with-a-sword would be nil.”

Karina smacked Jayme again, thoroughly annoyed that the difference in her Strength and Jayme’s Fortitude meant the warrior girl would hardly even feel it. The dork hadn’t shut up about him since he’d taken those bandits apart, and since Karina had been stupid enough to share her dream and a few of her annoyingly unexplainable feelings she’d been relentless. “They’re already nil because I have no interest in him!”

“Oh, come on babe,” Jayme said with a laugh, “you have eyes, don’t you? You’re telling me you have absolutely no desire to have him all naked, tied up, and at your mercy?”

Heat shot straight to Karina’s core and her thighs clenched together so hard she nearly stumbled. A completely involuntary reaction with no meaning behind it, she was sure. “Not in the slightest, though I’m starting to wonder if you haven’t been wondering what it might be like to be all trussed up and at his feet.”

Blush spread over her nose and she bit her lip. “Fuck, you think he’d be into that?”

Karina smacked her friend for a third time as Tiana made a choking noise that Karina prayed was a complete coincidence. “You horny bitch!” she sputtered, hiding a surprised smile behind her hand. Damn it, now she was imagining tying up Jayme with Zaren. She really was pent up. Or crazy. Or both. Probably both.

Jayme just grinned. “We could always ask. Hey, T, what kinda—”

Karina slapped both hands over Jayme’s mouth, her face on fire. Her head whipped towards Tiana, who looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. “Nothing! Please ignore my friend, she’s apparently been posessed by a chaos demon and is spouting absolute nonsense.”

Tiana, the beautiful, auburn-haired goddess she was, just laughed. “You forget who I hang out with. I can guarantee I’ve heard worse from Rhallani just in the last few days.”

Karina just hung her head in defeat. She hadn’t realized at first just how observant Tiana was, but there wasn’t much that got past her. It would have been annoying if Karina didn’t already trust her. Seems she’d found yet another human her Light liked.

For so long, Jayme and her father had been the only humans who could lay a finger on Karina without her having to fight to keep her light under control. But her Light liked Tiana. Serena, too. Even the redhead, Jack, had patted her quite forcefully on the back and her Light had just sat in her chest, happily coiled up.

She wasn’t going to even think about how it acted around Zaren. How it preened happily under his touch. How it seemed to crave him and whatever dark magic she’d seen from him that day they’d been attacked. How it surged under her skin, pulling her towards him at nearly all hours of the day.

Damn it all, now she was thinking about it.

“So…?” Jayme let the question hang, her grin undiminished.

Tiana laughed into her hand again. “Not sure he would want me telling all his secrets.”

Jayme blew a raspberry, but Karina let out a sigh of relief. You know, after violently tamping down the surge of disappointment that rose up when Tiana dodged the question. “Of course not, it’s none of our business.” She shot Jayme a glare, but her friend was unabashed.

There was something in Tiana’s eyes as she looked at them. Like they were a puzzle she was trying to figure out. It seemed like something was on the tip of her tongue, but her demeanor shifted at the last second. “What do you say we get something to eat? We’ve been window shopping for most of the morning now.”

Jayme’s stomach grumbled and her head fell back. “Damn, I didn’t even realize how hungry I was ‘till you said something. I’m down.”

Tiana couldn’t have been more than a year or two older than her and Jayme, but sometimes she almost fell into this motherly role that Karina definitely didn’t hate. Other times the woman was just so damn likable that Karina constantly found herself forgetting why she was trying to keep her distance in the first place.“Come on, I think Zaren owns one of the restaurants around here,” she said, craning her neck to look at the signs.

Karina scoffed. “Owns it. It’s still ridiculous.”

Tiana shot her a smile. “Trust me, he agrees. You should see the look on his face whenever he has to work with Cynthia on all his properties. Poor man’s eyes glaze right over.”

Jayme frowned. “Why? You think he’d be used to it, being a lord and all.”

Tiana hummed, letting the statement hang for a moment before saying, “For most of his life, Zaren didn’t own anything. He didn’t even own his own freedom. The idea that he’s in charge of so many properties and people doesn’t sit well with him, but I think that’s why he’s perfect for the role.”

She paused at the entrance to the restaurant and leaned towards them. Karina couldn’t help but lean towards her in return, and so did Jayme. “He’s never shot down any of our ideas or requests in the bedroom, but his past has made us hesitant to approach bondage. Rhallani’s been thinking of a way to broach the subject, though,” she said with a wink.

Karina was pretty sure her jaw was touching the floor, and Jayme wasn’t much better. But, as if she hadn’t just left both of them reeling and struggling to unpack everything she’d just said, she turned and strode into the restaurant.

She stepped aside and let them sit first, so Karina nabbed the seat facing the door. She’d never much liked having her back to the entrance. Jayme just sank into the chair next to her, still wearing a slightly shocked (and more than a little turned on) look on her face.

“You guys are…” Jayme trailed off.

“Unorthodox?” Tiana offered. She flashed a smile at them that did little to calm the heat between Karina’s legs that had been sparked by Jayme and stoked by Tiana’s words. “For a number of reasons, Zaren does things in his own way. He doesn’t put much stock in how things are normally done.”

“I was going to say you’re living the dream, but that works too.”

A Wood Elf waitress came by and took their order before disappearing. Thankfully, Tiana took it upon herself to shift topics to something that allowed Karina to form complete thoughts. Yesterday, she’d played the role of polite chaperone. She’d chimed in from time to time, but for the most part she’d been content to just let Karina and Jayme just have the day.

But today she was much more engaging. She asked them all about their lives and their pasts, their families, their likes and dislikes. It started to feel like an interrogation until Karina asked about Tiana’s family in return and she eagerly offered up her own story.

They talked while they ate, and Karina just couldn’t help but share things with Tiana that she’d never shared with anyone but Jayme. Their food came and went while they talked, and before she knew what had happened they’d spent almost two hours just chatting in the restaurant. At one point one of the staff came over to ask if they wouldn’t mind vacating the table, but then her eyes fell on the collar bearing Zaren’s crest wrapped around Karina’s throat and promptly apologized.

Eventually there was a lull in the conversation, but there was nothing uncomfortable about the silence that settled between them. The opposite, actually. For the first time since she’d met Jayme when they’d been kids and had decided on the spot that the girl would be her best friend, Karina found herself wanting to add to her friend circle of one. And that scared her.

While she ruminated, Jayme drained what was left of her mug. “I have to ask, how’d you end up in Zaren’s harem?”

Karina kicked her friend under the table, but Tiana just smiled wistfully at her glass. “He saved my life. Delved into an active Valax nest, cut me out of a cocoon, then led me out of spider infested tunnels. Most of us almost died at least once, but none of us came closer than Zaren.” She shrugged. “I knew from the moment he pulled me out of that cocoon, drugged out of my mind on spider venom, that if I held onto him tight enough then everything would work out.”

Her smile widened. “I thought I was crazy at the time, having that much trust in a complete stranger. Not that I had much choice, of course. I certainly wasn’t escaping alone. It was, hands down, the scariest day of my life. If I never have to go underground again it’ll be too soon, but it brought him to me.” She hummed to herself. “I sacrificed myself to save him. Ended up buried alive. Even though it’s always topped my list of worst ways to die, I knew in my heart it was worth it.

“But, Zaren being Zaren, he just couldn’t let me have my hero moment. He had to pull me out of the rubble, take me to the inn, and make me feel more loved and accepted than I can ever remember feeling in my life. I haven’t looked back since.”

Jayme cleared her throat. “Well, shit. If that doesn’t make you feel all warm and gooey inside.” Her eyes flicked to Karina, some poorly conceived joke no doubt on her tongue, but it dissolved into a frown. “You okay Kari?”

It wasn’t until she saw the concern on Jayme’s face that she realized she was crying. Embarrassed, she wiped angrily at the tears. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not sure why—” She sniffled, trying to snuff out the feeling in her chest. Warm and gooey wasn’t far off, but other emotions swam around in her as well. So many she had trouble making sense of them. Guilt and loss, but also relief and happiness. Disbelief. A cocktail of feelings she had no clue how to decipher or deal with, but they left her wanting to leap over the table and wrap her arms around Tiana, holding her tight.

“A Valax queen, huh?” she choked out, reaching for her own drink just so she had something to do with her hands. “That’s gotta be quite the tale.”

“It certainly is,” Tiana agreed. Her warm gaze was locked firmly on Karina’s face, worry in her eyes. “But one for another day, I’m afraid. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Like I said, I’m fine,” Karina said again. “Just… got a little emotional.”

“And you’re not sure why, are you?” Tiana asked softly. When Karina didn’t answer, she pressed on. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess you’ve been feeling a lot of emotions over the last few days that you don’t understand.”

A thrill raced through Karina’s chest. “You know what’s happening to me?”

“I—we,” she corrected, “have a pretty good idea, but it’s… complicated. And rather difficult to believe.”Karina exchanged a look with Jayme, noting the uncharacteristically serious expression on Jayme’s face. “You aren’t influencing me, are you? You or Zaren? None of you have classes that mess with my head, right?”

Tiana’s eyes widened a fraction, as if the thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “No, absolutely not! Zaren would never.”

“But it’s related to him,” Karina guessed.

“Yes, but we weren’t fully aware of the…situation until very recently.”

Karina nodded. “We noticed. Everyone started getting all… weird.”

Tiana winced. “Yes. We had some newcomers arrive and bring with them some big news. But it’s not something we should talk about outside the manor. If you’re willing, we can talk to Zaren. He can explain everything.”

Curiosity warred with anxious anticipation. “So Zaren is connected to all this? To… me?”

She tilted her head. “In a manner of speaking, yes. Though I hope you don’t hold anything against him until we can give you a better idea of what’s going on.” She chuckled to herself. “If I hadn’t lived some of it, I wouldn’t believe it myself.”

Karina chewed the inside of her lip. Jayme was looking at her to take the lead, but that was hardly surprising. She didn’t realize Jayme was feeling some of the same things she was, but it wasn’t out of character for Jayme to keep things like that pressed way down, even with Karina. “Alright, if that’s the case, I think I’d like to get it over with as soon as possible.”

“Of course. Zaren is still scrambling to deal with the situation as best he can, but I know he’ll make time for you. Both of you,” she added, nodding to Jayme.

“Then I guess we should get going,” Karina said, standing. She shook her hands out, doing her best to ignore the cold weight in her gut. Already her mind was coming up with possibilities as to what Tiana could be talking about. She hated not knowing what was going on, which is unfortunately where she’d spent most of her life. “Today was an interrogation, then? You were trying to figure something out?”

Tiana responded with the faintest touch of her fingertips to Karina’s forearm as they exited the restaurant. “I was trying to get to know you better, but not just for Zaren’s sake. You’re stuck with us for the foreseeable future, and I’d like it very much if we could at least be friends.”

Karina felt some heat building in her cheeks. “Oh. Well, I hope so too.”

The brilliant smile that graced Tiana’s face put many of Karina’s worries to bed. “Wonderful! Now, if memory serves, we still need to pick up those clothes. Shall we?”

She held her arm out, and Karina could see the hint of worry in her eyes hidden well under her warm expression. She was afraid she’d ruined any trust she’d garnered over the last few days, but so far nothing she’d said had done anything to change how Karina felt towards her. If anything, Karina felt more comfortable around her than before.

She linked her arm through Tiana’s and they set off towards the quaint little shop they’d found the day before. They picked up from earlier while they walked, Tiana on one arm with Jayme on her other side. Karina couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed.

That is, until, her Light started to creep up under her skin. It was agitated. It made her flesh crawl and her gut clench. Her heart rate picked up, and before she knew it she was clinging to Tiana’s arm. She’d just opened her mouth to say something when she saw the look on Tiana’s face. Gone was the warm, caring, approachable-yet-gorgeous woman she’d been at the restaurant.

In her place was a striking, intense, terrifyingly beautiful woman. Her body language hadn’t changed, but her eyes darted back and forth. “Your levels. What are they?” she asked, her tone light, but hard.

Jayme rolled her shoulders. “Uh, I’m not really sure I’m comfortable—”

“Seven,” Karina whispered, “and Jayme has a total level of thirty.”

Jayme’s eyes went wide, but Tiana cursed under her breath. “Class type?”

“Mage. Combat, I think. It’s nonstandard.” The words tumbled out as her fear started to spike. She understood what Tiana meant earlier, everything in her gut told her to rely on the tall, auburn haired mage completely.

“Mana pool?”

“Not great,” she started to look behind her, but Tiana’s nails dug into her arm. “Slightly above average, but all my skills use up a lot of mana.”

A slight dip of her chin was her only response. “Conserve mana, stay out of harm’s way. Try to keep between me and Jayme, and save your skills. You’ll likely only have one shot if things go bad, so make sure you don’t waste it. If it looks like we don’t stand a chance, bide your time and wait for your chance.”

“Shit, what the fuck is happening?” Jayme hissed through clenched teeth.

Tiana wrapped her arm around Karina’s shoulders and pulled her in close, pressing her lips to Karina’s temple. Fire shot through her, even though she knew Tiana was just using the move to look around them naturally. “We’re being followed, and the only people around us are mercenaries. How much fighting experience do you have, Jayme?”

“Not counting the scuffle I got into with Zaren the other day? None outside of training.”

Tiana took a breath. “Whatever happens, don’t lose your heads. If you can get away, run back to the restaurant. It’s one of Zaren’s, so they won’t risk following you inside. Pretty sure we’re outnumbered. Odds are they’ll take us captive. Zaren will come for us, I promise you that.”

Karina’s fear spiked and a whimper slipped past her lips. She’d been utterly terrified when those men had tried to take her, and that was when she’d had Zaren and Serena both on their side. Jayme, as per Zaren’s request, carried her sword and shield, but Tiana was unarmed.

About the time Karina thought her heart was going to break out of her chest, a stout woman with short cropped hair and a scarred face stepped into their path. “A nice day for a walk, isn’t it ladies?” she asked, her eyes flicking from one face to the next.

“It is,” Tiana said, smiling brightly. “But we’re running late, so if you’ll excuse us.”

“I’m sure you can spare a few minutes, we’ve got a—”

That was as far as she got before Tiana threw her hand out and four bolts shot from her palm. The woman had been standing with her hip cocked to one side, her weight mostly on one leg, so when the first bolt slammed into the knee bearing most of her weight her leg folded. There was a sickening crack as the woman went to one knee, then two bolts slammed into different parts of her torso, the last catching her in the throat.

Karina couldn’t so much as blink. She watched every second. The woman went spinning to the side, blood spurting from her mouth, her face twisted in pain and confusion. Blood sprayed and she made a gurgling grunting sound that seemed impossibly loud in Karina’s ears. She’d never seen someone die before, but in that moment all she could think was that she couldn’t imagine the woman walking away from an attack like that.

She hadn’t even hit the floor before men and women jumped out of alcoves and alleyways on both sides. Panic rooted Karina to the spot as Jayme stepped in front of her while Tiana spun to Karina’s back, all while Karina was frozen in place. Watching like she’d been kicked out of her own body, reduced to nothing but an observer.

While Jayme took on two with her sword and shield, Tiana thrust one hand out. A shockwave sent the three men charging her to the ground, a barrage of six bolts erupting from her other hand and slamming into them before they could regroup. There were cries of pain as joints snapped and twisted, Tiana’s bolts ripping apart their weak points with deadly precision, but only two of them stayed down.

One stood, his arm bent at an angle, gripping a one-handed sword. He charged at the same time several twangs rang out. Crossbow bolts slammed into the magic wall Tiana threw up, and behind her Karina heard the sound of bolts impacting on Jayme’s shield, followed by a shout of pain. Karina whirled around to see that one of the bolts had sunk into Jayme’s thigh, punching through the muscle and out the back of her leg.

No. Karina’s light flooded to her fingertips as Jayme managed to disarm and shield bash one of her assailants even with only one good leg. Karina lifted her hands, ready to empty her mana pool to defend her friend, when the air behind Jayme started to fold in on itself.

Karina held her hands up, palms out, fingers trembling, ready to blast whatever was happening. The next second the air split and something was hurtling towards her. Her hands were swept aside just before her foot was knocked out from under her. The world shifted, spinning as the ground rose up and slammed into her.

She tried to move, only to realize her attacker still had her arm in their grasp. She cried out in pain as they twisted it, driving her face into the ground. Then she froze as she felt something cold and sharp pressing into her throat.

“Unless you want to see the Seelie’s blood painting the street, I’d stand down,” a sultry, feminine voice said.

There was a pause in the cacophony of sounds Karina couldn’t make heads nor tails of, then several impacts of fists or weapons on flesh followed by cries of pain from her friends. Tears pricked Karina’s eyes as she realized she’d gotten her friends captured. That she’d been worse than useless.

“Aw, don’t sweat it sweetheart,” the woman holding her said. She lifted the blade from Karina’s throat to pat it against her cheek. “Everyone freezes the first time.”

She yanked Karina to her knees, allowing her to see her friends. Jayme was face down, a man standing over her with his boot on her back and a sword posed over the base of her skull. A few feet away a man held Tiana with her hands pinned behind her back while a woman held a long dagger to her neck. She was clad in a tight-fitting black outfit that Jayme had never seen before, and if she hadn’t been wearing clothes underneath it would have been extremely revealing.

Karina couldn’t make out much of Jayme’s face from where she was being held, but half of Tiana’s was already covered in bruises and blood. “It’s alright,” she said, saying more with her eyes than Karina’s panicked mind could comprehend, “just remember what I said, okay?”

Her confidence actually did a lot to stop Karina from falling apart completely, then the woman holding Karina laughed cruelly. “Cute. Hold her.” Karina couldn’t hold back her terrified yelp as she was shoved into the arms of another man who roughly yanked her to her feet. The woman, clad in tight black leather armor with chin length black hair, blood-red lips, and a thick scar over her left eye, stalked over towards Tiana.

“You’re damn good, girl. Good enough to kill two of my men. Who taught you to fight like that?” Tiana didn’t respond, she just held her chin high. The woman in charge didn’t like that. She backhanded Tiana with enough force to make her body sag. “We’re bringing her along. Something tells me she’s gonna be fun. Plus, she cost me two of my guys.” Then she looked over her shoulder and grimaced. “Make that three.”

The man holding Tiana nodded, then pulled out a sickly-green crystal. Tiana made a defiant sound before he pressed it to her forehead and she went limp in his arms. He tossed her over his shoulder and just stood there, waiting for orders.

The woman turned to where Jayme had frozen, her eyes wide, and shrugged. “Leave her. I don’t kill people I’m not paid to kill, and I’ve got no patience for amateurs. Grab the Seelie and let’s move out.”

“Kari! No!” Jayme screamed, surging up. That just earned her a swift kick to the head followed by a stomp on her ribs. That was all Karina saw before another of the mercenaries pulled out a gem identical to the one used on Tiana. Karina couldn’t bring herself to do anything but watch as he touched it to her forehead. Then a feeling like being dunked in icy water washed through her, followed by darkness.